1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector provided with a detection member for detecting an insertion position of a terminal within a terminal receiving chamber formed in a housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
One conventional connector of the type described is disclosed in Patent Literature 1 mentioned below. This connector includes a housing having a terminal receiving chamber extending in a forward-rearward direction, and guide grooves are formed respectively in side walls of the terminal receiving chamber, and extend in the forward-rearward direction, and further vertical grooves are formed respectively in these side walls, and extend in an upward-downward direction in intersecting relation to the respective guide grooves. A terminal to be received in the terminal receiving chamber has tongue-like stabilizers extending laterally respectively from opposite sides thereof. A retainer is inserted into the housing from an insertion port formed through a bottom wall of the housing, and a retaining portion and a guide projection of the retainer are disposed in each vertical groove, and are arranged in the upward-downward direction. A gap between the retaining portion and the guide projection is disposed at an intersection portion where the guide groove and the vertical groove intersect each other.
When the terminal is disposed in a proper position within the terminal receiving chamber, each stabilizer is retracted from the intersection portion at which the vertical groove and the guide groove intersect each other. Therefore, the retainer can be pushed into the housing while moving each retaining portion into an upper portion of the vertical groove, and therefore can be completely retained. On the other hand, when the terminal is not disposed in the proper position, each stabilizer is located at the intersection portion at which the vertical groove and the guide groove intersect each other, and the movement of the retaining portion into the upper portion of the vertical groove is prevented by this stabilizer, so that the retainer can not be pushed into the housing, and therefore the retainer remains projected outwardly from the housing, that is, is kept in its provisionally-retained position.
A connector disclosed in Patent Literature 2 mentioned below has reception chambers which are open respectively to side faces of terminal receiving chambers and also are open to a front face of the housing. When a terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber to contact a lance, the lance is elastically bent into the reception chamber to allow the terminal to enter the terminal receiving chamber, and when the terminal is received in a proper position within the terminal receiving chamber, the bent lance is restored to be retracted from the reception chamber. A retainer is attached to the front face of the housing to which the reception chambers are open. More specifically, limitation plates of the retainer are inserted respectively into the reception chambers through openings in the front face of the housing, and by doing so, the retainer is attached to the housing.
When the terminal is not located in the proper position within the terminal receiving chamber, with the lance bent into the reception chamber, the insertion of the limitation plate into the reception chamber is limited or prevented, so that the retainer can not be completely retainingly engaged with the housing. Therefore, the retainer projects outwardly from the housing, and remains in a provisionally-retained condition relative to the housing. On the other hand, when each terminal is located in the proper position within the terminal receiving chamber, with the lance not bent into the reception chamber, the retainer can be brought into completely-retaining engagement with the housing.
Patent Literature 1: JP-A-2006-79922
Patent Literature 2: JP-A-2005-166608
In each of the above conventional connectors, the retainer for confirming the received condition of the terminal is so designed as to be moved perpendicularly relative to the wall surface of the housing, and the retainer in its provisionally-retained condition projects outwardly from the housing, and therefore there was a high possibility that the connector was deformed or damaged when an external force was applied to the projecting retainer.